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Feb. 18th, 2020 09:41 pmI've been working on some image descriptions/alt text for this exciting new project I'm working on (for reasons that will be revealed eventually, though I don't really think the people who interact with me here are much in the fandom it's for), and it's prompting very interesting ruminations on medium and translation. Specifically, the fact that attempting to write narrative image descriptions is tripping me up in the same way that my few stilted attempts at writing translations have. There's this constant tug-of-war between wanting to be faithful to the original medium in a way that works for the target medium. In this case, that's struggling between when to describe panels individually and when to summarize the motions that the sequential panels are meant to represent-- but it reminds me a lot of translating between languages, and the times you have to sacrifice accuracy for sense. (Or, if you're like me, waffle back and forth between the two and end up with something in the middle that doesn't quite satisfy either thing.)
It also reminds me of attempting to translate poetry because of the tension between accuracy and creativity-- which ties into the above, but also adds another dimension. Should I translate the words literally, or write them according to my interpretation in a way that flows well for the reader? What if I'm leaving something out in adding in my interpretation? Is it okay if I try to add a little poetic flair? Is adding poetic flair actually more faithful to the source text anyway, since it's meant to be read as a poem? In the case of the image descriptions, should I add my own interpretations to the images, imposing emotions onto facial expressions as I see them? Or is that taking away the level of interpretation that the viewer should ordinarily have to draw their own conclusions? But if the viewer doesn't have access to the source image, can they really draw conclusions with all the information, though...?
With all this in mind, it's no wonder I've flailed so hard in my attempts at translation. If nothing else, the overthinking alone would doom me. But in a way, realizing it's a similar skill set makes me even more determined to stretch these particular muscles. Translation is something I so dearly wish I were better at, and what better place to play with it than fan projects?
It also reminds me of attempting to translate poetry because of the tension between accuracy and creativity-- which ties into the above, but also adds another dimension. Should I translate the words literally, or write them according to my interpretation in a way that flows well for the reader? What if I'm leaving something out in adding in my interpretation? Is it okay if I try to add a little poetic flair? Is adding poetic flair actually more faithful to the source text anyway, since it's meant to be read as a poem? In the case of the image descriptions, should I add my own interpretations to the images, imposing emotions onto facial expressions as I see them? Or is that taking away the level of interpretation that the viewer should ordinarily have to draw their own conclusions? But if the viewer doesn't have access to the source image, can they really draw conclusions with all the information, though...?
With all this in mind, it's no wonder I've flailed so hard in my attempts at translation. If nothing else, the overthinking alone would doom me. But in a way, realizing it's a similar skill set makes me even more determined to stretch these particular muscles. Translation is something I so dearly wish I were better at, and what better place to play with it than fan projects?
